Three Rooms Press is a fierce New York-based independent publisher inspired by dada, punk and passion. Founded in 1993, it serves as a leading independent publisher of cut-the-edge creative, including fiction, memoir, poetry translations, drama and art.

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Independent Publishers: Thriving with Creative Visions

By KAT GEORGESCo-Director, Three Rooms Press It’s a strange time in the world of publishing. The giant publishers continue to merge. Independent bookstores continue the struggle to keep their doors open. New technology has made it easy for authors to publish their own books. Yet, somehow, independent publishers are thriving. According to Jeff Herman, author of Guide to Book Publishers, Editors and Agents, independent publishers make up half of the $29 billion annual revenue of the publishing world. Many small presses are well-known and quite successful, even with out-of-the-ordinary literary titles. Grove Press’ recent release of Helen McDonald’s fabulous memoir H Is For Hawk began with a print run of 5,000 and has sold a staggering 62,000 copies since its March release—a year before the paperback is due out. Other small presses are “micro” in their size—under twenty releases per year—yet “macro” in their enthusiasm and commitment to publishing the highest quality work. These micro presses are fueled by passion and commitment to a vision. Three Rooms Press featured five of these New York-based, fiercely independent publishers on July 3 at its third annual “That’s Independents!” celebration of small presses at Cornelia Street Cafe, and discussed the state of the industry with them.

It’s All About the Vision

If one thing unites the small presses, it is their dedication to their unique vision. For example, Great Weather for Media, which publishes solo poetry collections as well as a cross-genre annual anthology, is committed to “the unpredictable, the fearless, the bright , the dark, and the innovative,” according to co-founder Jane Ormerod. This vision is clearly visible in their most recent release, Debridement, a poetry collection by Corrina Bain, whose poems, as described by NEA fellow and poet Sam Sax “have no qualm reaching down your throat and pulling out your living heart just to say look at it, look. Look.” By contrast, the vision can be very broad in scope. Dustin Nelson, founder of InDigest, a magazine and book publisher focusing on “good story-telling in all forms and artists whose curiosity drives them to push beyond the conventions of their media,” incorporates digital work into their publishing scope. "We've published lots of stories and poems, but we've also published videos, GIFs, scripts, podcasts, audio stories, pamphlets, centos built from the Wikileaks Centos, broadsides, games, reviews, rants, diatribes, broadcasts about the apocalypse, memoir, we've told lies about Shakespeare and passed them off as truth, published round table discussions, and have always been open to doing anything that's been created that you can make an argument for calling literary." With so much potential variety, the publisher's role has greatly expanded.

A Curatorial Role

In an age where anyone can publish their own book, and the Big Five could publish everything else, small presses have had to find a way to continue make themselves necessary. While they lack the resources to match the six- to eight-figure advances of the major publishers (let alone four- to five-figure advances!), they have the advantage of being willing to take chances on unknown authors and new formats. Small presses have developed into a role of “curator”—presenting consistently high quality work from a variety of authors to an audience carefully cultivated over a number of years.

Nelson from InDigest notes that “Publishers offer curation and a voice you can trust at a time when there’s so much available that sifting through it would be a full time job.” He adds, “Publishers are still a reader’s most valuable ally.” Ron Kolm, founder of The Unbearables—a publisher of “avant-garde writing that attacks the status quo by using the weapon of noir humor”—agrees with Nelson, noting that when independent publishers consistently produce high-quality, good-looking books, “a sort of trust develops between the press and potential buyers or readers . . . And in a world as out of focus as the one we live in, that is not a bad thing at all.”

Okay, But How Do I Get Published By Them?

With all this vision and curation, independent publishers might seem to be a perfect fit for all authors who consider themselves to be on the “cutting edge.” But every vision has its boundaries. So how does the aspiring writer hop onto the small press train? Start by reading the guidelines, Ormerod notes. “A 50,000 word story will not fit into an anthology. That 30 page epic poem is a ‘no’ as well. We understand the odd typo, but please review your work before sending it to us.” Research helps, adds Nelson. “Start a conversation . . . Start talking to people and read other presses. It’s often easiest to define something by figuring out what it’s not . . . . Read. Read. Read. Read. Read. Watch TV. Have a beer. Make popcorn. Read again. Talk to a publisher. They don’t really know more than you . . . We all just like books, right?” And Kolm recommends networking. “We are very open; we add ‘members’ all the time,” he says. “All one really has to do is come to one of our readings and hang out. We like to drink in downtown bars, such as the Parkside Lounge and the Sidewalk Café, and occasionally, we even shoot pool! Chalk up your cue stick!” Three Rooms Press has been hosting annual celebrations of Independent Presses since 2010. According to co-director Peter Carlaftes, it’s a great way for authors to hear readers from a number of presses, and informally meet with them to discover more about what they’re looking for. For Three Rooms, the genre is less important than the style. “We’re publish cut-the-edge creations,” says Carlaftes. “Everything we do has a certain distinctive twist that makes it stand apart from other books in the field.” Forthcoming works include Meagan Brothers’ Weird Girl and What’s His Name, an LGBTQ young adult novel, and Aram Saroyan’s Still Night in L.A. a detective novel by the famed concrete poet. “We publish because we want to add fresh ideas to an increasingly homogenized world,” Carlaftes muses. “It’s our way of saving the planet.”

Hidden Wheel

Hidden Wheel, Michael T. Fournier's debut novel, is an unflinching, reflection of the growing complexities of navigating art, commerce, and the internet. Its use of intersecting plotlines illustrates the confusion and potential of the early 21st century and the evolving ways in which its inhabitants try to make a mark in the specter of financial upheaval and shifting technologies.

Inheriting Craziness is LIke a Soft Halo of Light

Thomas Fucaloro's spectacular first collection of poetry is a beautiful, raw, intense read. According to Emily Kagan Trenchard, curator of the louderARTS Project, "Thomas Fucaloro’s particular gift is to harness the crazed wisdom at the bottom of the bottle, to scrape a fleck of beauty from the underside of a binge, and to call madness by a name so familiar we can’t help but recognize it in ourselves." In these 57 poems, Fucaloro brings to light new angles of perception of madness, addiction and modern urban living. Each poem takes risks in form and content. As author Jon Sands notes, "To read Thomas is to literally discover each line with him. There's really nothing he won't say. He's as surprised as you are."

DRUNKYARD DOG

DrunkYard Dog by Peter Carlaftes is a collection by a new poetic master who has honed his intense, insightful and inspiring poetic voice on the playgrounds of the Bronx, and the bars of Manhattan. Tales of bartender blues and bliss, injected with hope in a mileau of madness swirl into a powerful poetic cocktail. Carlaftes offers a brilliant poetic voice, filled with drop-dead humor, searing insight and resilient originality, even while resonating with overtones of Bukowski, Baudelaire and Bogart.

TRIUMPH FOR RENT

Playwright Peter Carlaftes presents three compelling, funny and biting dramas in Triumph for Rent: Three Plays (Three Rooms Press, 182 pages, 2010). The plays include Spin-Dry: An hilarious wild ride through a 90s rehab center for celebrities; Hunger: inspired by the Knut Hamsun novel; and Frontier A-Go-Go, a time travel piece uniting the hippie 60s, nerd/rave 90s and techno future. "As with Strindberg, Beckett, or even Satre—Carlaftes' message seems to be something we intuit . . . like music." SF Weekly.

A Year On Facebook

Peter Carlaftes has built a huge FB following and kept them in stitches with his hysterical status updates. A year's worth are collected here. This will have you ROTFL for months! 184 pages, $13.95

WHEN NIGHT SALUTES THE DAWN

TWITTER THEATER

Award-winning playwright Larry Myers delivers a vital and funny play about networking phenomenon Twitter, that examines the profound changes technology has brought to society and theater.

PROGRESSIVE SHOTS

In the final book of his Bar Poems series, Poet Peter Carlaftes produces a rare riot, full of humor, insight and drop dead originality, while resonating with overtones of Bukowski, Budelaire and Bogart. Info: threeroomspress@mac.com

MARY ANDERSON'S ENCORE

In “Mary Anderson’s Encore,” award-winning international playwright Larry Myers explores the great American tragedienne, Mary Anderson, who skyrocketed to fame with her first role, and retired by age 30. Called by the New York Daily News “One of Off-Broadway’s wittiest & more prolific playwrights,” Myers’ works have been seen in Rome, Italy at Teatro Olimpico & Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival, as well as Anchorage, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Louis­ville, San Francisco & Los Angeles.

PRAISE FOR WHAT REMAINS

Angelo Verga's epic new poem roams the territory of Wall Street greed, blasts apart sacred cows of the finance community and in unparalleled beautific poetic form, dissects the clotted heart of the beast that led to the unprecedented global financial crisis. A must read for anyone losing their faith in the system.

SIT YR ASS DOWN OR YOU AIN'T GETTING NO BURGER KING

Dominique Lowell, the "Janis Joplin of Spoken Word," has come back with a powerful punch with her first book in 10 years. Be prepared to be blown away by this one.

WE ARE RELATED

by Susan Scutti. The East Coast has been familiar with Susan Scutti's dynamic and heartfelt work for years. Now she has collected the best of her most recent work in a stunning volume that addresses issues of aging parents, alzheimer's, memories of youth and her enduring love for New York City. At times tender, other times terse, Scutti's direct style belies a deeper complexity, while allowing for multiple levels of enjoyment. A real jewel, hot off the press.

Sheer Bardom

Take one part Bukowski, one part Baudelaire, and one part raw New York energy and stir. You still won't get close to the beat of Pete, in his lively poems that uncover the beauty of the horror of death and life in the Big Apple.

Splitting Hairs

A new voice joins the Three Rooms Press roster: The Bass Player from Hand Job. His witty, incisive poems compel the reader to rethink ideas--such as "global warming"--which have been manipulated by the media to the point of redefinition. This book is for the reader who wants to get to the core of everything, with a free form that moves from rant to poetic beauty in the space of a stanza.

to[o] long

Jackie Sheeler celebrates the release of her first Three Rooms Press book, to[o] long, a hard-hitting collection of prose poems that delve into the intricacies of urban sex, love, loss and redemption. Available now!

One Foot Out the Door

One Foot Out the Door, poems by Karen Hildebrand is a stunning collection of work, that paints crisp, dagger-like images of love and beauty in this era of self-imposed disconnection from both.

Slow Dance at 120 Beats A Minute

NOW OUT! The long-awaited poetry collection by Kathi Georges. In the voice of various personae, Georges tackles the taboo in 10 poems that explore the highs and lows of the female psyche in the bizarre creature we call the "Modern World." $8. Reserve your copy now by emailing threereoomspress@mac.com